French TV measurement body Médiamétrie has kicked off the new year with a revamped audience panel, bringing more internet-delivered TV viewing under the lens of its Médiamat panel. The measurement body says the change will make its TV ratings more accurate, better representing the viewing habits of the entire French population.
Médiamétrie has previously measured cross-screen internet-delivered TV, such as mobile, tablet, laptop, and out-of-home TV viewing, within its out-of-home panel, which consists of 5000 individuals. Meanwhile its primary in-home panel only measured viewing on the TV screen, and has (by necessity) been restricted to households which own at least one TV set.
Thus laptop, mobile, and tablet viewing inside the home has been left unmeasured. Households which don’t own a TV set have also been left out entirely. This is problematic, since certain demographics which are more likely to own a TV set, and/or to primarily watch content on their smartphone, laptop, or tablet, may skew towards certain TV channels or types of content. This in turn means that these channels and TV shows may receive lower-than-accurate audience scores.
This week, Médiamétrie has implemented updated panels to rectify this. The measurement body has added 500 new households which don’t own a TV set to its in-home panel. And it has also begun measuring TV viewing on all devices within its panellists’ homes, as well as outside of the home.
Laurence Deléchapt, Médiamétrie’s TV and cross-media director, said the update is the result of a “significant transformation programme in television audience measurement”, adding that the company’s ratings will now better reflect the entire French market.
A pivotal year for French TV measurement
The update is an important one, but there’s still plenty of work to be done in updating France’s TV measurement tools to be fit for current viewing habits.
Médiamétrie has other initiatives planned for this year. The company has spoken of launching a new cross-screen advertising measurement product in the coming summer, created in collaboration with France’s broadcasters. It also plans to fold viewing figures for YouTube, Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video, and other digital players into its ratings later in the year.
This work in theory will build towards the creation of a new currency at the start of 2025. But introducing a new currency would be a big shift, and this proposal is currently being trashed out by three separate trade bodies: the SNPTV, UDECAM, and the Union des Marques (which represent broadcasters, media agencies, and brands respectively).
The broadcasters, for their part, seem keen to drive change. TF1, which sees a future in CPM-based trading for TV advertising, has specifically asked Médiamétrie to develop cross-media measurement tools to deliver reach and frequency reporting for viewing on TV sets. And M6 Publicité’s managing director David Larramendy stated in November that his company is pushing to help develop “a reliable and unanimously recognised measurement system” for French TV by the end of this year.
But aligning the interests of all relevant parties often proves difficult. Many advertisers and agencies would like updated TV measurement tools to cover more digital video content, aligning measurement standards between TV and digital video. This is often a sticking point – while M6’s Larramendy wants to see major progress this year, he also cautioned that this must not come at the cost of TV measurement’s rigour.
